Created from untold stories from El Salvador, Salvadoran theatre-maker Rodrigo Calderón brings his debut solo performance HE to Theatre Works (Explosives Factory) from 7 May 2024.
Written, directed, and performed by Rodrigo Calderón, HE is a coming-of-age tragedy exploring masculinity, homophobia, and love. Following a sell-out season at Red Velvet Underground, HE is the first fully bilingual season to be presented at Theatre Works with performances in Spanish and English.
HE is the story of a man who returns to his childhood home, a small coastal town in post-civil war El Salvador. A place he swore to the ocean he’d never set foot in again.
Here, he shares stories of his childhood: the exquisite spiced fish his grandma cooked, the vile jokes his dad loved to tell, the time he almost drowned, and the lifeguard who taught him how to dance.
“El Salvador is famous for a few things but not for theatre. The Central American region is not acknowledged in the theatrical world, so audiences are missing out on the unique magic of our stories,” says Rodrigo.
“I hope this work can be the beginning of a movement, where a wave of artists bring their unheard accents onto Australian stages. And with their accents, their community and their stories.”
Born in El Salvador, Rodrigo studied a bachelor of Dramatic Arts from Universidad del Salvador in Argentina; and has since immersed himself in directing, teaching, performing, and investigating different movement-based forms that potentialize the possibilities of the performer’s body as a communicative and political tool.
At the beginning of his career, he intensively experimented with César Pineda the ritualistic nature of theatre, an experience that deeply inspired him to continue investigating the expressive possibilities of the actor’s body to create a ceremonial gathering. Rodrigo’s theatrical practice focuses on the building of a community.
Director / Performer / Writer: Rodrigo Calderón | Lighting Designer: Zac Beaumont | Stage Management: Arky Ryall | Dramaturgical Consultations: Edgardo Dib, Matthew Crosby, Damien Millar, Jorgelina Cerritos | Provocateur: Kendra Keller | Loving Witnesses: Bagryana Popov, Tony Yap, Stephen Phillips | Producers: Kat Carrington, Rodrigo Calderón
HE
Explosives Factory (Rear Laneway), 67 Inkerman Street, St Kilda
Season: 7 – 18 May 2024
Information and Bookings: www.theatreworks.org.au
Image: Rodrigo Calderon presents HE (supplied)